chasing the sun
by eponnia
Summary: Post-Canon. "She's never been this spontaneous in her entire life, but the empty wine bottle and the deafening quiet of her apartment keep her from cancelling the plane ticket." Unaware of Lyla and Evan's existence, Jennifer goes to New York to rekindle things with Louis after a year apart. [Part V of the "polaroid snapshots" series. One-sided Lennifer with some Louyla. One-shot.]


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The title is from "Chasing The Sun" by Sara Bareilles.**

* * *

A hungover Jennifer wakes up with an email about a flight confirmation to the JFK Airport.

But apparently even when drunk she checks her schedule, because the flight from San Francisco to New York is booked on one of her days off. She's never been this spontaneous in her entire life, but the empty bottle of wine and the deafening quiet of her apartment keep her from cancelling the plane ticket.

And so a few weeks later, she lands in the Big Apple hoping Louis will want her back after a year apart.

She has an address she managed to wrangle from Nick, a friend of Louis' she recognized just enough from the birthday party to know he had information she needed. But when she had talked to him after running into each other at the store, she'd been on her way to work. All she had wanted was the address, not interested in staying long enough to let him finish whatever he was trying to say about Louis not being the same anymore.

But she doesn't even make it to the street scrawled on the back of her Fred Meyer receipt, because when her taxi is driving past Central Park she sees _him_.

She doesn't stop to wonder what it is about Louis that is now making her so impulsive as she tells the driver to stop, and she gets out of the car then and there. Jennifer hauls her expensive suitcase down the paved walkway as he sits, oblivious, on a park bench in front of a children's play area. She wonders why he's there of all places, but chalks it up to his obnoxious brother maybe having children and Louis is watching his niece or nephew for – what was his name? Mark? Marcellus? Mason? And so when she gets within speaking distance of the bench – Louis still hasn't seen her in the chaos of the park – she focuses more on how she's going to get across the grass in heels while holding a heavy suitcase. She draws a breath to call out to her ex-boyfriend–

A woman sits down beside Louis.

Not on the end of the bench; no, there's no buffer room between them as if they are strangers. The woman with beautiful honey-colored hair sits _with_ Louis as easily as anything, so close the sides of their knees brush. And then he puts a casual arm around her shoulders, and Jennifer wants to run.

"So I was thinking," the woman says, "about where we could have the ceremony."

Warning bells are going off in Jennifer's head, but surely they can't be talking about _that_ kind of ceremony–

"I've had enough of courthouses and office buildings," the other woman continues, and when she brushes her hair back from her face, Jennifer sees a ring on the other woman's finger. "I'd like to get married here in Central Park."

Before Jennifer can even process the words Louis' fiancé has just spoken, a dark-haired boy runs up to him and cries, "Dad, look! I found a caterpillar!"

Jennifer walks away, vision blurred with tears, and takes a taxi straight back to JFK.

As she waits to board the first flight back to San Francisco, she tells herself she shouldn't have to go this far out of her way for Louis, or anyone at all. She doesn't need to fly across the country to chase down someone who has since moved on. He very clearly lied to her about some secret family he had all these years, information he had kept from his stupid girlfriend he had kept on the side.

She tells herself that she's worth more than that, and promises herself that she will never let loneliness cloud her judgment this severely again.

* * *

But when she gets home, she allows herself a few more minutes of dwelling on her heartbreak. Planting herself in front of her computer, she opens a bottle of red wine and Louis' Facebook page.

He hasn't unfriended her yet, and so she still has access to his wall; and anyway, he was rarely on the site even when he was dating her. He hadn't made any posts in a year, which is why she hadn't had a clue about his fiancé and his son. But he's finally posting again, and of course it is all about his wedding.

There are endless photos taken probably by someone who isn't even a professional photographer. Louis hadn't exactly been a penny pincher when he was dating her, and she wonders why he didn't hire someone expensive for an event like this. But in all of the images, Louis looks happier with his bride than he ever did with Jennifer herself. Yet she can only stomach a few photos of the bride – Lyla, apparently – looking radiant in a simple ivory dress, and other shots of the kid who looks so like both Lyla and Louis. Jennifer slams her laptop lid shut, considering burning the device then and there before getting ahold of herself.

She knocks back some wine straight from the bottle and swears that she will never chase down a man again.

* * *

Thankfully, Jennifer is much more level headed when she finally goes back to work.

There's a new employee joining the ranks of the publishing house's editorial team. Joe Campbell has a gentle Southern accent with kind bottle green eyes and a soft smile, and within five minutes of meeting him, it looks like nothing fazes him. He even calls her ma'am when they're introduced, and for once she doesn't feel like the word is being used to imply that he thinks she's old. She introduces him to the people he needs to know, and shows him around both the office and to the empty cubicle that is right next to hers. But instead of dismissing her to get him a coffee like another coworker would, he genuinely thanks her for the tour.

"You don't sound like you're from around here," she finds herself saying.

"I'm from Alabama, ma'am," Joe says with a smile.

"What brought you all the way to California?"

"I wanted to work at this publishing house for a long time," he begins, "but I wanted to come to San Francisco longer. I visited here when I was young, and I always wanted to come back. And now that I'm here, I honestly don't want to leave. I know I haven't been here that long," he admits, almost shyly, "but it feels like where I am supposed to be. When you know, you know."

She surprises herself by smiling back, and doesn't let herself think of the fact that Louis never told her why he refused to go back to Ireland. "That's good to hear. Well, I'll leave you to your work. See you around?"

"Of course," he says like there is no other answer in the world, and as she walks away, she can feel Joe's gentle gaze following her.

 _Let someone else pine after me for a change_ , she thinks instantly, but tries to rein in her emotions. She's here to work, not focus on her heart, and she's wasted far too much time thinking of Louis.

But if she gets the notice of a sweet, quiet, dependable man who looks like he calls his grandmother once a week and bakes pies in his spare time and owns a golden retriever, well…

She's not complaining.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before anyone says "Jennifer was never this emotional in the movie!1!", I would like to direct you to the deleted scene between her and Louis. I always wished Jennifer was more than just the uptight, disapproving stock girlfriend character, and she was in that scene cut from the film. And if she voiced that she wanted to meet Louis' family, well, that means she wanted their relationship to work. Permanently.**

 **And I personally wouldn't be able to get over a relationship apparently that serious without shedding a few tears myself.**


End file.
